Throughout my journey as a private music educator, I find myself asking this same question very frequently: Why does this even matter? Take one look at the world and consider how correct finger positions and time signatures could possibly alleviate economic disparity, disease, or disaster. As for my own self-interest, the pay could (always) be better and I eagerly welcome even a bit more stability or prestige. My self-worth wavers like a crumbling tower before its final fall, and I wonder yet again if today I shall walk away once and for all.
Wading in the muck of my own self-pity, I notice the time and reluctantly gather myself for work. I arrive at the sun-baked parking lot, take a deep breath, and walk in. As my first student enters and the lesson begins, I notice an unexpected surge of comfort and discover the quiet balm of a weekly piano lesson. No matter what either of us has carried through the week, within this moment teacher and student are granted this small refuge – a room made of music – to rest from the chaos of the day-to-day. To my surprise, even a rhythm stretched as far as one lesson per week can resemble the soothing, steady pulse of a mother’s bosom.
As the afternoon progresses, I lean further into my music-themed human lessons. Through the vessels of music theory, note reading, and technique, I inevitably teach my students responsibility, discipline, diligence, detail, communication, expression, and – my favorite – how to listen. Meanwhile, my students unknowingly teach me how to become a better communicator and better teacher. They tell me about their weeks, aspirations, celebrations, and sometimes disappointments, and I return my encouragement and support. By the end of the day, without any intention of my own, my spirit has been restored and I remember once again why all of this even matters.
Music matters because music makes humans more human. Music cultivates focus, steadiness, determination, and a language for conveying and understanding what words alone cannot carry. These cultivated qualities accompany people beyond the music room and into homes, workplaces, relationships, and communities. They form leaders, laborers, caregivers, and thinkers – the people who create and tend the world we share.
Knowing this, take another look at the world and consider that music education – an invisible, reverberating, and powerful force – indeed may influence far more than one could possibly fathom. Music is good for people just as teaching music is good for me.
Today, I shall not walk away.